Stephen Michael Natale

Biography

Stephen Michael Natale is a semi-retired Construction Manager, now pursuing the muses as an Author. He is avid Bass fisherman and outdoorsman enjoying what he terms the ‘beer commercial’ lifestyle of Florida.

Born and raised in the upscale suburbs of Philadelphia, Stephen moved to Florida just out of high school and began working in the trades. He acquired skilled hands and an enviable work ethic that drove his career into the boardrooms of some of Florida’s most influential developers.

After publishing freelance works in print and on the internet in 2009, he decided to transform his career from building to writing, publishing his first novel in 2011. Since, he has published three additional novels in multiple genres and a children's' Holiday Book.

Smashwords Interview

You’ve published three different books now, all in different Genres and we understand a fourth in still another genre is soon to be released, why?

The simple answer is that’s just how each story worked itself out. When I write, I begin with a base premise, perhaps it even starts with just a plot twist, but I never really know where the story is going to go until I get there. I may start with a particular genre in mind, but sometimes it doesn’t stay there, most of my stories end up crossing genre lines.

Starting with the Children’s Book, ‘Christmas Light Crusader’ the story begins with a true account, perhaps stylized; of when our dogs found a baby squirrel in a downspout; we named her Pearl. That fight to survive is combined with a real problem we have a Christmas time, and a whimsical story developed from there.

The latest release, ‘The Reverie of Jedadiah’ is a pure Romance Novella. I wrote it after seeing a photograph in a beauty salon and decided to explore the genre. My editors were working on the fourth book and there were some changes I wanted to make to it, so I decided to experiment. When I sent the manuscript to some of my test readers they loved the story, so I published it.

Now the first book, ‘The Shopkeeper’ was conceived with purely one aspect in mind; that was simply keep the reader guessing. I didn’t even have a story. The plot developed from the “who done it” genre, but as the story took shape it gained facets of Suspense, Thriller and Romance, most of that came from developing the characters.

The fourth book, ‘The River Kings’ came basically from a great number of reader requests wanting more of the character lives from ‘The Shopkeeper’. I had an adventure storyline I wanted to write and that fit very well with these characters, so The River Kings is the next chapter. But even that Adventure plot morphed across the genre boundaries, into romance and suspense.

I think the stories wander across those lines because, I guess as a male Author, you can’t really have beautiful women in a story without falling in love with them a little bit.

What do you mean by that?

Well one of the secrets to my stories is they are all based in a bit of truth; some by history, some by actual events. The majority of my Characters are real people, composites mostly, stylized certainly, but all based on people I know; especially the female characters. I’m not permitted to say who they are, but let’s suffice it to say, I’m a pretty lucky guy and there are parts of the books that are not fiction.

Books

Everything Kendra Cartwright loved and dreamed was taken from her…all a result of harsh fates not of her seeding. She held tightly to one small glimmer of optimism, a hope sustained by a reoccurring dream. Unknown to her, this secret vision is shared by another and within, a miraculous gift lays hidden within tragedy. Anna's Vestige the requested sequel to The Reverie of Jedadiah. Read as a Set

A Hunt for Unfathomable Treasures Leads to Appalling Treachery
CIA Deputy Director Warren Jumper uncovers an outlandish Jihadist plot to finance their next 9/11. Their plan, find hidden Pirate Treasure along the banks of the St Johns River in Florida.

Sometimes Love is in Another Place
They were as far apart as a man standing on a beach is from the moon, & like the moon he could see her luminosity, yet she possessed no perception of the man on the beach, or the tides within him she influenced.
She's a Star, but also a prisoner, locked in a tower of celebrity, barring her from her real dream. He a writer soon to meet his muse & the falling moon

The Christmas Crusader is the story of a tiny squirrel named Pearl, telling her true life struggle to survive and how a squirrel learns to be a member of a family. As she grows Pearl receives a magical assignment and discovers the wonders of Christmas.

“Evil can only triumph if good men do nothing.”
When a relatively young woman’s body is inexplicably found in the garage of her home, an imperceptible breeze of vindictiveness and greed floats into Central Florida’s St John’s River Basin and a tiny town on its shores.
One man perceives a whispering of malice he cannot ignore pushing its way into this idyllic place. This man is THE SHOPKEEPER